Heartbeat
by Mind's Odyssey
Summary: Curse you, desperation. * I even thought of breaking up with him, but I didn't know how to cover up. * At least help for god's sake, or else he wouldn't be in that room right now, struggling to survive! * I was dead shocked to see the line on the screen of the ECG instrument; a dead straight line... Ventus one shot (AU), slight violence and not much fluff. Rated T just in case.


**Kingdom Hearts One Shots Series  
****08 – Heartbeat**

Pairing: Ventus x Reader

One sunny afternoon, I was minding my own business and cleaning up my bedroom, which was going to morph into a pig sty if I didn't do something about it. I had been working since morning and my allergic nose wasn't helping at all. Ugh, those dusts were practically everywhere, kind of made me wonder when the last time I cleaned my bedroom was.

After hours of battling with old stuffs and even more dust, I was finally making some progress. At least half of the things in my room were gone for good. I wiped the cool sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand. I hummed "Victory Fanfare" absentmindedly. When I was about to sit down on the floor to take a brief but much deserved rest, "One-Winged Angel" blasted in. Well… I totally ignored my cell phone's existence all this while. I sighed and picked up the phone. Normally, I would be quite eager to answer an incoming call, but the reason why I acted that way was because I knew _exactly_ who was trying to contact me if this ringtone blasted…

"Hey girl, you want to hang out with me, like right now?" Vanitas, my boyfriend, was at the other side of the line.

See what I mean? I tried to stifle a sigh and replied, "Uh, well, sorry, Van, but you see, I was cleaning up my room and I haven't done putting the things away yet… maybe some other time?" I heard a chuckle and his voice, "You know, you could always ask someone else to do it for you." I lifted an eyebrow skeptically and asked, "Who, you?" And all I heard was a fake cough.

"I meant, your parents or someone else in the house right now," he answered.

I really wanted to sigh out loud at the moment; didn't I just tell him three days ago that my parents weren't at home this month, because they were on an important business trip? And for the love of Bahamut, he forgot that I didn't have any siblings? What a "considerate" guy I had. But still, I said, "Alright, I will be ready in three minutes." "Sure." And then he hung up.

Actually, I kind of got together with him out of some… desperation. People at school kept jeering at me because I still haven't had a boyfriend despite already being eighteen. While I didn't see the point in having one, since I always prioritize study, followed by family and friends, I did feel alienated by peers, especially those popular kids. Gosh, I just wished some random flowerpots to drop on their heads when they walk on the streets. They made my life so horrible to the point that I started to doubt my beliefs. And then Vanitas just appeared and he seemed to have some… feelings for me, so why not? After all, I wasn't planning to go any further. I just hoped all those jeering would stop and make my life easier. Hell, I was going to apply for university entrance soon, and those idiots weren't helping to alleviate my stress at all.

Anyways, while my mind was full of these thoughts, I changed into some cleaner clothes and grabbed my bag. I took the keys and left. When I got out of my house's door, his car was already outside. The metallic black paint reflected the afternoon sunlight into my eyes, and man did it hurt my eyes. Despite of all of that, I put on a small smile at him when I opened the door to the other seat beside the driver's seat. After I settled down, he drove off. He took a turn and then commented, "Um… why are you wearing the same clothes from three days ago?" Well, I didn't notice that, thank you very much. "Sorry, but excuse me for not having enough time to dress up for an extravagant tea party," I teased, trying to conceal the sarcasm in my reply. He merely shrugged, and I averted my gaze to watch the buildings and trees at the side of the road we were taking.

"So… where do you want to go?" he asked, still driving.  
"Bookstore; I need to buy some reference books," I blurted straightforwardly.

He gave me that bored look and whined, "Again?" "Well yeah," I replied, with a smile that implied "Don't mess with me or else…" Upon seeing my unvoiced determination, he gave up and muttered, "Whatever…" He made a signal to turn left and went off to the town square. During the ride, no conversation occurred between us. Even if there was, it was mostly one-sided. Seriously, how could you talk more than three sentences with someone who didn't share any common topic? It's just plain psychological abuse! Now I didn't even understand why I would even decide to be with him so impulsively… Curse you, desperation.

After five minutes, we were in the middle of the town square. Vanitas stopped his car at a junction to drop me off. I told him to park his car somewhere because I might be taking a while, and wasting petrol wasn't a good idea when everything was increasing in price lately. Once he was out of sight, I sighed and scratched my head. "It's so hard to catch up with him…" I thought, making my way across the street to the bookstore. He always gave me the impression of a rich, snobby and somewhat spoilt person. At some point, I even thought of breaking up with him, but I didn't know how to cover up if those annoying people knew about it.

Before I could enter the bookstore, a deafening crash exploded in my ears. It seemed to come from somewhere behind me. I hastily turned around and a "whoa" escaped my mouth; a serious accident occurred, involving a truck and a normal car. What's worse; black smokes were emitted from both the heavily damaged vehicles. Crap, if I didn't hurry, the people trapped inside could die! Luckily, I was a member of the Red Cross Society in school. I ran over to the crash site quickly and peeked into the smaller car. There were a total of three people in that car. The truck driver who looked kind of old and had a long pony tail managed to crawl out of his seat, but he freaked out so much and fainted. Judging his red face, I bet he was drunk. I phoned the ambulance and then cried for help, "Somebody! Help!" And then I observed the car, the door to the front seat detached upon impact of the crash, and thankfully the two persons sitting at the front seats weren't stuck.

I tried my best to remove them from their current position. I helped the older one (who was the driver) out and then the younger one. When I finally got to see the second person I pulled out carefully, I was surprised to see it was Roxas! "Roxas?!" I gasped. He was also astonished to see me as well, but he seemed too shocked to actually form a sentence. The older one came over to check up on him while I went over to save the last person out of the mess. "Save Ven, please… he's still in there…" Roxas stuttered to me. I replied, "I'll help." As I was standing up, another person came over. It's Vanitas. He asked, "What took you so long?" I wasn't in the mood to chat, so I replied, "What, can't you see?! I'm trying to help here! Can you give us a ride to the hospital?" He stared at the mess, me and the two victims, and he slowly said, "Oh… okay…"

After I gave a small nod of acknowledgement, I turned to the victim still trapped inside and yelled, "Hey, can you hear me? Answer me if you can!" No reply came, so the person inside was unconscious. Oh great… Fortunately, more and more passersby stopped to gave us a helping hand. Some of them were discussing quickly how to get the victim out. Just then, I heard a loud car engine noise out of nowhere. My instinct warned me that the car was going to explode, so I turned around and covered my ears. (Strangely enough, why didn't I escape?) And that was when I saw a black car whizzed past. Wait… wasn't that Vanitas?! I thought he was going to drive the other two victims to the hospital or something?! "What the…" I stuttered, with Roxas and the older driver staring at me.

"… Forget about him, we still have to save Ven," the older one said to me first. Thankfully someone called the fire brigade and helped to get the victim out. I went over and examined him. Surprisingly, he was only suffering a few cuts and bruises here and there. The only problem was his face was as pale as snow. Don't tell me he was suffocated by the black smokes… I checked his heartbeat and pulse; nothing… Without thinking, I executed CPR while mumbling, "Hey… don't go dying on me right now… okay?! Think about your family… your friends…" After several vain attempts, nothing much happened besides having random street people staring at me. The older driver came over and put a hand on my shoulder, saying, "The ambulance is here, let's get him to the hospital." I couldn't do anything else but let the paramedics to carry Ventus into the ambulance. I, Roxas and the driver went in as well.

* * *

I guess it was about near midnight when the three of us were still waiting outside of the ICU. I could still hear the doctor's words the moment we witnessed Ventus being sent into that room…

"_His heart seemed to stop beating… we will do what we can, but we cannot really ensure anything…"_

I just sat at the opposite of Roxas and his older brother, Cloud (I learnt about that on the ambulance). My shirt and hands were tainted with specks and small patches of blood, which I got from helping the victims around. Cloud sat there silently, but he put an arm around Roxas's shoulder in attempt to calm him down. Roxas was almost on the verge of tears, I guess the sudden events unfolded before him was too much for him. I let out a soft sigh and leaned on the cool wall behind me. All of a sudden I could feel exhaustion creeping in slowly. All those adrenaline rushes sure worn me out.

And then, I heard footsteps ringing from the other end of the hallway. I turned to the right to see Vanitas walking to us slowly. Some rage sparked in me and I got up, glaring at him with hostility. I walked to him slowly as well and stopping just three steps in front of him. He raised two defensive hands and tried to smirk while saying, "Hey now, don't scowl so much… what's up?" "What are you doing here?" I asked with a serious tone. He shifted his weight to another leg and replied with his annoying nonchalance, "Just hanging around to see if the guy… _dies or not_." He did whisper the last three words, but thanks to the eerily quiet of the hospital during the night, the two blondes at some distance away from us seemed to hear him. Roxas's eyes widened and he tensed up, while Cloud glared daggers at him.

I was not going to lecture him about speaking the right words depending on occasions now. I finally let out my rage, "I gave you my trust to lend us a helping hand. I thought you would give us a ride, and you just ran off while we're in trouble! At least send us to the hospital for god's sake, or else Ven wouldn't be in that room right now, struggling to survive!" My arising tone startled him, but he also countered me, "Well, it wasn't my business, lady! I could care less about what happens to them!"

"_BAM!"_

I punched him right into his cheek really hard and he fell to the floor with a thud. I growled at him, "What can you possibly do, coward?!" He glared back at me and pushed himself up. I was so mad that I didn't quite put much thought into my words, "Don't tell me you're jealous because I stopped to help a random guy who is in danger?" He said, "So what if I am?" You couldn't possibly imagine my shock upon hearing his words. My eyes widened and I clenched my fists. I finally muttered, "Then you're nuts." After that, I turned to leave; no use getting the points into that thick skull of his.

Before I could take a full step, I was pinned to the wall nearby, with both of my wrists trapped between his grasps and the wall. I kept struggling but couldn't free myself. I glared at Vanitas while he stared down at me. With a wicked smile, he threatened, "I usually don't treat women with violence, but you left me no choice…" I saw him raising his fist and I just braced myself for the incoming blow. And all of a sudden, another blow came and sent him flying instead; Cloud came to my aid and launched another punch onto his other cheek. I stared at both of them out of shock, and finally glared at Vanitas on the floor. Cloud gritted his teeth and warned, "Get out of my sight." To further emphasize it, I added, "It's the end between us now. Get lost!"

Silence settled in, and after ten seconds or so, he got up and with a final glare, he ran off. Oh finally… I had the urge to share a high five with Cloud, but now was not exactly a good time. Roxas was staring at us with his eyes wide like saucers. Cloud scratched his head awkwardly and went back to Roxas. I also went back to sit down, mumbling an apology to Roxas. "Sorry about that…"

Roxas shook his head slowly and was about to say something, and that was when the doctor finally made his appearance through the door. All of us stood up at once and Roxas immediately inquired, "Doctor, how is Ven?" The doctor took off his mask and said, "It's okay now, everything's fine. He is now safe. He was lucky because someone performed CPR before the ambulance arrived, or else he wouldn't have made it." I could feel the enormous rock tied to my heart dropped off for good. Cloud let out a deep breath and Roxas finally looked relieved. I mumbled, "Thank god…" The doctor added, "For now, he would need a few days' rest. You may now visit him if you want."

The three of us went to the ward where Ven was sent into. And there he was, sleeping peacefully with an electrocardiogram instrument beside him. I almost jumped when I saw the clock on the wall; it was already past midnight! But… I didn't feel like going home right now. I had locked the doors anyways. It would make me feel better to spend the night here. Cloud volunteered to fetch us some bed sheets for our temporary stay and went out. Roxas came over and said, "Thank you so much… if it weren't for you, I don't know… I…" I shook my head lightly and replied, "No, it's okay. I'm glad to help." "I'll watch over him, you go and have some rest," he said. I quickly said, "No, you look tired than me, Roxas. You sleep and I watch, and then maybe we can switch later if you want." He wanted to protest, but his yawn betrayed him. So he sighed in defeat and went over to a chair nearby and sat down. Seconds later he fell into dreamland.

I gazed softly at Ven and the ECG instrument beside him. The lines were steadily going up and down in a rhythm. Actually, I had a strange interest, that's studying about human heart and how the heart works. I remember once my Biology teacher let us meddle with a stethoscope and I couldn't describe the feeling when I heard my heartbeat. It was just… there, and yet we didn't notice its presence. Come to think of it, while I was being laughed at and jeered at school, Ven was the only friend that stood up for me. He was my best friend ever since. Strangely, like heartbeats, I never… really noticed his feelings. Why didn't I choose to be with him instead of that Vanitas? That was something I would never understand, but for now, it didn't matter anymore.

Unconsciously, I put two fingers on Ven's right wrist softly and I could feel the pulse there. It was slightly weak, but steady. A wave of secure washed over me like a gentle breeze and I started to feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier… After god knew how long, I heard a loud beeping, I jerked up at once and was dead shocked to see the line on the screen of the ECG instrument; a dead _straight_ line… No… NO! "Crap…" I muttered helplessly and clutched onto Ven's arms. I shook him violently, but nothing happened. I straightaway tested his pulse on his jugular, and to my horror nothing was there at all! And then, the floor seemed to shake. An earthquake? The shake rendered me feeling dizzy and falling into a dark endless abyss. I tried to reach out, but with no avail… I heard my name being called, and I yelled, "Ven? Roxas? Cloud? Anyone?! Help…"

"… _Hey…"  
"Hey… wake up…"_

I flung my eyes open and sat up, breathing heavily. The first thing I saw was… the sea? I was at a seaside… but… why? By any chance… was this heaven? The sky was at dawn and I felt sand beneath my legs. Just then, something warm contacted with my left shoulder, and I turned my head to see a hand. That's right… I remember now. I turned my head to the other side to confirm with my answer; Ven was beside me, all along. He looked at me, slightly worried. He asked, "What's wrong? You looked like you had a nightmare." I sighed out of relief and replied, "Oh… nothing, I dreamed about _that_ day again." Ven squeezed my shoulders tentatively and asked, "Really? That was already two years ago…" "…Yeah."

I remember now; after that incident, Ven and I developed more feelings towards each other, and we finally became more than friends. We even got into the same university later and now we were having our semester break. We decided to spend the holidays in Destiny Islands. Ven playfully pinched my cheek playfully and said, "You said you want to see sunrise and dragged me up at 4, and now you're the one sleeping here… not fair." I laughed slightly at his pout, and ruffled his hair while saying, "Okay, Ven. Sorry… Your reaction is just too cute." He was about to say something, I saw streaks of golden light shining on his handsome face. At that particular moment, his face was beyond perfect… the light made his eyes twinkle. I was mesmerized by those two sapphire orbs, and I lost track of how long I stared at him…

"Um… the sun?" Ven asked sheepishly with a tint of pink on his face, he never had a girl staring at him so long like that. "… Oh no!" I exclaimed and quickly averted my gaze to the brightening horizon. Too late, the sun had successfully jumped out of the sea and now was emitting golden rays everywhere. I missed the chance to see the sunrise… "Just great…" I pouted this time. Ven patted my head and teased playfully, "So I take it that my face is much better than the sun?"

That's it; I turned to look at him and I declared, "Alright then, we shall watch the sunrise tomorrow again!" "Aw hell no…" He whined. I laughed and then switched to a much sober behavior and said, "But for now… let's just enjoy this moment…" He nodded after some time and watched the imperfect sunrise with me. Unknowingly, we inched closer and closer, to the point that we leaned on each other. Unfortunately, I was still sleepy, and the fact that I was leaning on his chest wasn't helping. The constant beating I felt was lulling me to the land of sleepiness. "Oh well…" I thought. I was glad that I saved his life, even though I sacrificed my first kiss for that matter. Although I didn't know when I fell asleep again, I didn't care, as long as I was with him.

**The End**


End file.
